The NATO-led force in Afghanistan would be more effective if member countries lifted restrictions that prevent their troops from fighting insurgents in the country's restive south, a senior Canadian officer said Saturday.Many of the 37 troop-contributing nations serving with the 31,000-strong force have refused to join the fight against Taliban and other insurgents in the south, leaving the task to Canadian, American, British and Dutch soldiers.The French, German and Italian forces patrol relatively quiet sectors in the north under self-imposed limitations, known in NATO as "caveats," that keep them out of combat operations.Brig. Gen. Tim Grant, in charge of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, said that if the commander of the NATO-led force "had more flexibility in the deployment and the use of all the troops here I think it would be better for everyone."... http://www.foxnews.com

After he was arrested in 2002, Jose Padilla was considered so dangerous that he was held without charges in a military prison for more than three years -- accused first of plotting a radiological "dirty bomb" attack and later of conspiring with al-Qaeda to blow up apartment buildings with natural gas. But now, nearly a year after his abrupt transfer into a regular criminal court, the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Chicago gang member is running into trouble. A Republican-appointed federal judge in Miami has already dumped the most serious conspiracy count against Padilla, removing for now the possibility of a life sentence. The same judge has also disparaged the government's case as "light on facts," while defense lawyers have made detailed allegations that Padilla was illegally tortured, threatened and perhaps even drugged during his detention at a Navy brig in South Carolina. The Justice Department denied the allegations of torture last week and is pursuing an appeal ...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/18/AR2006111800484.html

Monica, now 27, still remembers the three of them dancing on the bed. She laughs when she recalls the day Freddy flipped a three-wheeler on top of his brother. Before tending to him, he came inside to eat a tortilla.How was it possible that she could lose them both?They were her baby brothers, the boys she adored. She devoted so much time to them that she never even wanted children of her own. The brothers followed each other into the Army. Freddy first, then Andrew.They came home that way, too. Freddy, then Andrew....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230527,00.html

The woman was widowed when her husband died in the terrorists' attack on the World Trade Center, whose twin towers once would have been seen from the windows of the meeting room where she sits with her attorney. But this Sept. 11 widow is an illegal immigrant - one of about 25 identified as having lost a family member in the disaster - and she could face deportation at any time. So could her 17-year-old son, and she begs him to carry his father's death certificate in case someone asks him why he is in the U.S. ``I can't get a driver's license. I can't go to apply for a job. I can't work. I can't study. I can't fly. I can't do anything,'' the 38-year-old woman from Ecuador said this past week. She spoke on condition that her name not be used, for fear she might be deported. A New York City group is urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant permanent residence status to the illegal immigrants who lost family members on Sept. 11. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6224517,00.html

Spanish police are looking for the mystery owner of €1.8bn (£1.2bn), held in several banks, after tax inspectors raised concerns that the accounts might contain laundered money. A court order has frozen the accounts, but the owner or owners have yet to step forward.If the cash belongs to one person, it would make them one of the 10 wealthiest people in Spain and owner of one of the world's 500 biggest fortunes. The search follows police raids on four banks and several other financial businesses in Madrid and Barcelona a fortnight ago.A police spokesman said the money appeared to have originated in Spain and to have been filtered through a network of trusts and other companies based in various offshore havens...http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,1951211,00.html

A meeting of top financial officials from around the globe opened Saturday against a backdrop of 3,000 marching protesters, some of whom turned violent, pelting police with stones, bottles and smoke grenades.Some 3,000 protesters marched on a downtown hotel where the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers opened, but most of the violence appeared to center around a group of about 200 demonstrators dressed in white coveralls with red bandanas tied around their faces.Police struck out with batons as protesters rushed the barrier in at least two places, and at one site overturned fences and broke through the initial cordon, according to Associated Press reporters who witnessed the incidents. A number of officers were injured, but only one seriously. Two demonstrators were arrested, and more arrests were expected, Victoria state Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said. There were no reports of injured protesters....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11072369/